Making the best use of our time, doesn’t mean, filling every moment we have, doing something. It means finding what is *best* in any given moment, and ruthlessly cutting out everything else. There are endless good things we can do with our time. The needs around us are almost infinite. Our family, our home, our …
God can bring about good, from even the worst situations. In the last blog, I looked at Joseph. Joseph was forced into slavery, unjustly imprisoned, and still God used those 13, seemingly wasted years, to bring about good. Through them, Joseph learnt skills that helped him to lead Egypt through a national famine, saving thousands …
This academic year, we are starting a new curriculum called ‘Layers of Learning.’ I have tried a few different home-schooling strategies, but so far, none have been quite the right fit: at least, not in the long term. The most challenging thing, at the moment, is trying to meet the differing needs of …
At the start of this series, I began with an imperative – do not waste the gifts and talents God has given you. In this blog I feel led to clarify that imperative – accumulating ‘achievements’ is not the same as using your gifts. Last week, in our church bible study, we looked …
Noah’s Ark is one of the most famous Bible stories there is. So much so, it has inspired innumerable baby toys, accessories, and children’s clothing. The idea of a floating zoo is novel and child friendly. But the whole story is actually quite a sobering tale of wickedness, hard work, and salvation. God …
“She took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate… and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God” Genesis 3:6, 8 Shame has a way of making us want to hide away. We don’t want our …
It’s been a while since I last blogged. In fact, it’s the longest break I’ve had since I started nearly 4 years ago. Why? Well, honestly, I’ve been toying with the idea of giving up. Starting the blog was a challenge. Keeping it going has not been easy. I’ve made lots of mistakes. I wish …
St Valentine is bizarrely relevant this year – he was martyred in 270 AD for performing illegal marriages. At that time, marriages were banned for what was, perhaps, a less compelling reason than a global pandemic. Emporer Claudius II had believed that marriages were responsible for less soldiers joining his military campaigns, so he tried …
Being stuck in a perpetual groundhog day, makes conversation hard. I try to keep in touch. I know it is good for all our sanity. I know it will keep the relationships stronger for when we can finally meet up… but what do you talk about? ‘Have you been up to much?’ ‘I went for …
In part one I mentioned how isolation has caused many insecurities to bubble up to the surface. Insecurities stem, in part, from all the past mistakes I’ve made. However, the present, presents its own unique problems. I often fear I don’t have enough. Enough time, patience, attention, skill, gentleness, wisdom (fill in the blank) …